Opposition leader Raila Odinga has protested three presidential results out of the four elections he has participated in without the support of the Mt Kenya votes.
Since 2007, the former premier has been blaming and accusing the electoral body of bungling elections to scuttle his chances of ascending to power.
Raila’s traditional strongholds have been Nyanza, Western, Coast, and Lower Eastern regions. Mt Kenya has never voted for him throughout his political career.
However, this time around, the ODM leader appears to have dedicated his time, energy, and resources to woo voters from this region to back him for the first time in history.
For the last two months, Raila has been camping in Mt Kenya counties alongside a host of local political leaders and business moguls backing his bid.
The obsession with the mountain has attracted the attention of a section of Kenyans, who are now questioning the veracity of the rigging allegations he has been raising.
“If Raila really WON the 2013 and the 2017 elections, why work very very hard to please the central Kenya electorate?? Something is not adding up…with these moves, it’s apparent that he has been losing and not accepting the outcomes,” posted one social media user with the handle @GunnerAfrican.
2017 numbers at a glance
In the final tally of the August 2017 presidential poll, Uhuru garnered 8, 223, 369 votes (54.2%) against Raila’s 6,822, 812 (44.9%).
Mt Kenya had the highest number of registered voters in the country with a total of 5.3 million electorates.
Rift Valley, which overwhelmingly voted for Uhuru-Ruto, had a total of 3.2 million voters. Each of the two regions (Mt Kenya and Rift Valley) voted to a tune of 75%-80% for the current regime.
Although Raila had more strongholds, most of them did not vote maximally. Apart from Nyanza and Lower Eastern regions, Western and Coast delivered less than 70% to the ODM boss.
It’s worth noting that Nyanza and the Western region had approximately 1.9 million voters each, while Lower Eastern had 1.2 million voters.
Further, Jubilee heaved away significant votes from Raila’s strongholds and dealt him a blow in his quest to ascend to power.
In Kakamega County, for instance, Jubilee garnered 30% of the total votes and secured four parliamentary seats. In Bungoma, the Uhuru-Ruto camp scored 35% of the votes and won four parliamentary seats.
The ruling coalition also got significant votes in the Coast and parts of North Eastern.
Should these factors remain constant in 2022, Raila could suffer a similar fate as in 2017, especially now that Western, Coast, and Lower Eastern regions appear to be drifting away.
It’s out of this realization, perhaps, that the former premier is keen on wooing the Mt Kenya region to back his bid to cover up past shortfalls.
Mt Kenya forays
So far, Raila has hosted Mt Kenya elders three times and held discussions with businessmen from the region at least four times.
Over the weekend, the former premier traversed four counties of the vote-rich region accompanied by at least four governors and a battery of MPs allied to President Uhuru Kenyatta.
In a span of one month, Raila has visited Nakuru, Murang’a (twice), Kiambu, Laikipia, Meru and Nyeri counties. Kivumbi.co.ke also understands plans are underway for Raila to visit Kirinyaga and Nyandarua.
In all these meetings, the ODM leader has been enticing the mountain with a fair share of slots in his government and favourable policies that will protect their businesses.
“The Ameru Community occupies some of the most fertile and high-yielding lands in the country, given their tenacity and work ethic, together we can transform livelihoods if we move forward together” Raila said during a meeting with leaders from Meru County.
The former premier has been banking on his past cordial working relationship with retired president Mwai Kibaki to woo the Mt Kenya region to back his bid.
“Together with President Mwai Kibaki, we showed that things can work for all our citizens. We laid the ground for fiber optics to go across Kenya for faster, cheaper, and reliable internet connectivity.
With Kibaki we laid the ground for Kenyans to be able to access cheap loans. In fact, that was the era that banks hawked loans. Many young people bought their 1st cars then and started their 1st businesses. I want us to return to that era of possibilities,” Raila said.
The Opposition chief has also been reminding his audience about the Kibaki Tosha declaration he made in 2002 to boost his chances.
Trust Deficit
On Tuesday, September 28, businessmen under the Mt Kenya Foundation declared their unwavering support for the ODM leader.
However, a section of leaders such as Irungu Nyakera and former Kiambu governor William Kabogo have taken issue with the endorsement.
Raila’s message was dry and won’t work for the majority of the youth. Youth aren’t interested in what happened to Jaramogi, Achieng Oneko and Kenyatta in 1948. And 1952. Or even the fact that Kikuyu, Embu, and Meru people had to carry Stamped Passes to move around the country. Youth want someone to speak to their current struggles of joblessness and hopelessness.
My conclusion is that Baba has now been demystified and looks electable even in Mt Kenya. I also think Baba is not a bad man. But the people selling him don’t mean well for him,” said Nyakera, Chairman, Taskforce for Development and Implementation of Tea Industry Price Stabilization Framework.
On his part, Kabogo took issue with the finances Mt Kenya Foundation is alleged to be mobilising to push for Raila’s bid.
“If you care to know Mt Kenya foundation specializes on fundraising but the big question is do the funds go to the intended purpose? Your guess is as good as mine. Caveat Emptor,” he tweeted.
